The Pools
by Stormwalker628
Summary: After the Second Impact Gendo Ikari investigates an anomalous site in China. Crossover with Ranma 12.


The Pools.  
  
By Kevin McHorney  
  
The Gehirn VSTOL landed on a small cliff overlooking   
  
the mysterious valley. A wide cargo door opened in the back of   
  
the aircraft and armored men leapt to the ground. They landed   
  
in a crouch and scanned the surrounding terrain, their assault   
  
rifles ready to eliminate anything that constituted a threat.   
  
One of the men paused as he listened to his headset then   
  
pointed to three men and motioned them towards a small, nearby   
  
hut. The three men ran towards the hut and rushed inside.  
  
The soldier who had signaled held his earpiece closer   
  
to his head, then he tapped his throat and said, "This is   
  
Sergeant Hanabishi. The area is secure, Sir. One male in   
  
structure, no other humans detected."  
  
A door on the side of the aircraft opened and swung to   
  
the ground to form a ladder. Gendo Ikari stepped down the   
  
ladder followed closely by Kozo Fuyutsuki. They stepped to the   
  
edge of the small cliff and surveyed the valley.   
  
"Interesting," Ikari said. "Every one of the pools has a   
  
bamboo pole in it's center?"  
  
"Yes, all of them. This valley was at one time a   
  
martial arts training ground. However this supposed curse has   
  
kept people away for decades now."  
  
"Yet it survived the second impact and continues to   
  
give off an unusual energy signature. Perhaps there is   
  
something to this curse, Professor."  
  
"Magic, Ikari? I didn't think that you would be one to   
  
believe in it."  
  
Ikari used his index finger to slide his glasses back   
  
onto the bridge of his nose and smiled. "I don't. But after   
  
all, there are more things on this Earth than are contained in   
  
all your books and philosophies."  
  
"Hamlet?" Fuyutsuki said as he raised an eyebrow. "An   
  
odd time to be quoting Shakespeare."  
  
Ikari let his comment pass and signaled to Sergeant   
  
Hanabishi. "The Professor and I are going down to this   
  
valley."  
  
Sergeant Hanabishi saluted and said, "Yes, Sir." He   
  
turned and started barking orders to his troops as Ikari and   
  
Fuyutsuki walked down the narrow path to the valley floor,   
  
followed by two soldiers.  
  
At the edge of the field of pools Ikari signaled to the   
  
soldiers to remain where they are as he and Fuyutsuki walked in   
  
among the pools. Ikari stopped and stood besides one of the   
  
pools, looking into it's depths. "What kind of curse was   
  
placed on these pools?"  
  
"Actually, we don't know." Fuyutsuki said. Ikari   
  
looked up at him in surprise and Fuyutsuki continued, "We only   
  
know that its name is the cursed training ground of Jusenkyo   
  
and that it's the pools themselves that are cursed." He paused   
  
as if weighing his words, then said, "Are you sure you want to   
  
be sitting so close to it?"  
  
"Curses, Professor? I didn't think that you would be   
  
one to believe in it," Ikari said, throwing Fuyutsuki's own   
  
words back at him. "I'm sure that..." Ikari's words were cut   
  
off as the ground he was standing on crumbled, pitching him   
  
into the pool. He came sputtering back to the surface and   
  
grabbed onto the edge.   
  
Fuyutsuki held out a hand to help Ikari out of the   
  
water, then paused. Something about Ikari looked different.   
  
His glasses hadn't changed, but they didn't make his face look   
  
quite as omniscient as they usually did. There were other   
  
changes in his expression and the way he stood as he got out of   
  
the pool. There was othing Fuyutsuki could put his finger on,   
  
however something had changed about his friend. "Ikari, are you   
  
alright?"  
  
"Never better, Fuyutsuki my friend, never better."   
  
Professor Fuyutsuki's eyes nearly popped out of his head as   
  
Ikari smiled. This wasn't his usual closed smirk, but the open   
  
grin of a man who hid nothing. "Hmm, my son is almost five. I   
  
need to get him back from that teacher and start training him   
  
properly," Ikari said to himself as he walked back to the   
  
VSTOL, Fuyutsuki trailing behind him. "A training trip should   
  
turn him into a real man. Maybe I should arrange a marriage   
  
for him, giver him something to look forward to after he   
  
becomes a man. I think Professor Soryu has a daughter about   
  
Shinji's age."  
  
Inside the hut the Jusenkyo guide sighed and shook his   
  
head. "Poor man, fall into spring of drowned martial arts   
  
father."  
  
End.  
  
I was re-reading Kevin Hammel's 'Honor and Love' series when   
  
I got the idea for this little story. Not much more to say   
  
about it. As always, please send comments to   
  
stormwalker628@usa.net  
  
Disclaimer: this story is in no way a challenge to the   
  
ownership of any ideas or characters from either Neon Genesis   
  
Evangelion or Ranma 1/2 and was written for entertainment   
  
purposes only. 


End file.
